transform the number cell so that only numbers (with or without decimals) excluding zeros are visible

Hi. I want to transform the number cell "N" so that only numbers (with or without decimals) excluding zeros are visible (see for example the number 100 circled in green). Shown are the "transformations" I would like to apply to all numbers inside cell "N". I have tried a for loop but that does not think to be the right way.

N = importdata("N.mat");
% N1 = cell2table(N);

N_new = {};
for K = 1:height(N)
    for k = 1:width(N)
        aa = N{K,k};
        F = compose('%.2f',aa);
    end
    N_new = [N_new,{F}];
end

[Matt J]

see for example the number 100 circled in green

This hints that your post should contain an image for us to look at, but I see none.

[Stephen23]

Why are you very inefficiently storing lots of scalar numerics in a cell array?

"I have tried a for loop but that does not think to be the right way."

You are forced to write a loop because you are not storing your data the right way (in a numeric matrix).

Answer 1

[Matt J]

load N

string(N)

ans = 8×8 string array
    "100"       "100"       "100"       "100"      "100"       "100"       "100"       "100"  
    "100.01"    "100.01"    "100.01"    "99.99"    "100.01"    "100.01"    "100.01"    "99.98"
    "42.35"     "47"        "46.84"     "45.65"    "47.01"     "47.01"     "46.85"     "45.65"
    "57.65"     "53"        "53.16"     "54.35"    "52.99"     "52.99"     "53.15"     "54.35"
    "100"       "100"       "100"       "100"      "100"       "100"       "100"       "100"  
    "3.7"       "4.35"      "3.38"      "3.59"     "4.34"      "4.34"      "3.37"      "3.57" 
    "53.95"     "48.65"     "49.78"     "50.76"    "48.65"     "48.65"     "49.78"     "50.78"
    "57.65"     "53"        "53.16"     "54.35"    "52.99"     "52.99"     "53.15"     "54.35"

[Alberto Acri]

In this case how can I transform the string into a cell?

[Matt J]

That would be a peculiar thing to do, because strings already have cell-like indexing syntax,

load N

Ns=string(N);
Ns{2,1}

ans = '100.01'

However, if you're sure it's what you want,

Nscell=num2cell(string(N))

Nscell = 8×8 cell array
    {["100"   ]}    {["100"   ]}    {["100"   ]}    {["100"  ]}    {["100"   ]}    {["100"   ]}    {["100"   ]}    {["100"  ]}
    {["100.01"]}    {["100.01"]}    {["100.01"]}    {["99.99"]}    {["100.01"]}    {["100.01"]}    {["100.01"]}    {["99.98"]}
    {["42.35" ]}    {["47"    ]}    {["46.84" ]}    {["45.65"]}    {["47.01" ]}    {["47.01" ]}    {["46.85" ]}    {["45.65"]}
    {["57.65" ]}    {["53"    ]}    {["53.16" ]}    {["54.35"]}    {["52.99" ]}    {["52.99" ]}    {["53.15" ]}    {["54.35"]}
    {["100"   ]}    {["100"   ]}    {["100"   ]}    {["100"  ]}    {["100"   ]}    {["100"   ]}    {["100"   ]}    {["100"  ]}
    {["3.7"   ]}    {["4.35"  ]}    {["3.38"  ]}    {["3.59" ]}    {["4.34"  ]}    {["4.34"  ]}    {["3.37"  ]}    {["3.57" ]}
    {["53.95" ]}    {["48.65" ]}    {["49.78" ]}    {["50.76"]}    {["48.65" ]}    {["48.65" ]}    {["49.78" ]}    {["50.78"]}
    {["57.65" ]}    {["53"    ]}    {["53.16" ]}    {["54.35"]}    {["52.99" ]}    {["52.99" ]}    {["53.15" ]}    {["54.35"]}

[Stephen23]

It is not recommended to use cell arrays of (scalar) string arrays, because these are very ineffiicient and do not allow any of the benefits of using string arrays:

https://www.mathworks.com/help/matlab/matlab_prog/frequently-asked-questions-about-string-arrays.html

However it would certainly be okay to have a cell array of character vectors (e.g. using COMPOSE or CELLSTR).

Answer 2

[Matt J]

If your're just looking for a way to change the display format, and not the numbers themselves, I think you can only do that in the Command Window, not the Variables Editor.

load N

format shortG

disp(N)

    {[   100]}    {[   100]}    {[   100]}    {[  100]}    {[   100]}    {[   100]}    {[   100]}    {[  100]}
    {[100.01]}    {[100.01]}    {[100.01]}    {[99.99]}    {[100.01]}    {[100.01]}    {[100.01]}    {[99.98]}
    {[ 42.35]}    {[    47]}    {[ 46.84]}    {[45.65]}    {[ 47.01]}    {[ 47.01]}    {[ 46.85]}    {[45.65]}
    {[ 57.65]}    {[    53]}    {[ 53.16]}    {[54.35]}    {[ 52.99]}    {[ 52.99]}    {[ 53.15]}    {[54.35]}
    {[   100]}    {[   100]}    {[   100]}    {[  100]}    {[   100]}    {[   100]}    {[   100]}    {[  100]}
    {[   3.7]}    {[  4.35]}    {[  3.38]}    {[ 3.59]}    {[  4.34]}    {[  4.34]}    {[  3.37]}    {[ 3.57]}
    {[ 53.95]}    {[ 48.65]}    {[ 49.78]}    {[50.76]}    {[ 48.65]}    {[ 48.65]}    {[ 49.78]}    {[50.78]}
    {[ 57.65]}    {[    53]}    {[ 53.16]}    {[54.35]}    {[ 52.99]}    {[ 52.99]}    {[ 53.15]}    {[54.35]}

[Alberto Acri]

Thanks for your answer.

I want to create a new cell with numbers like the number 100 circled in green (obviously it depends on whether that number has one or two numbers after the decimal point).

Answer 3

[Matt J]

You can round all of the numbers to 2 decimal places as below. This will make it so that any number that was an integer to 2 decimal places will be displayed as an integer without any trailing zeros. However, there is no way to get numeric non-integers to display with less than 4 decimal places in the Variables Editor, and not in the Command Window either, except with format shortG or format bank.

load N

N, %original

N = 8×8 cell array
    {[     100]}    {[100.0000]}    {[     100]}    {[    100]}    {[     100]}    {[     100]}    {[100.0000]}    {[100.0000]}
    {[100.0100]}    {[100.0100]}    {[100.0100]}    {[99.9900]}    {[100.0100]}    {[100.0100]}    {[100.0100]}    {[ 99.9800]}
    {[ 42.3500]}    {[      47]}    {[ 46.8400]}    {[45.6500]}    {[ 47.0100]}    {[ 47.0100]}    {[ 46.8500]}    {[ 45.6500]}
    {[ 57.6500]}    {[ 53.0000]}    {[ 53.1600]}    {[54.3500]}    {[ 52.9900]}    {[ 52.9900]}    {[ 53.1500]}    {[ 54.3500]}
    {[100.0000]}    {[100.0000]}    {[100.0000]}    {[    100]}    {[100.0000]}    {[100.0000]}    {[100.0000]}    {[100.0000]}
    {[  3.7000]}    {[  4.3500]}    {[  3.3800]}    {[ 3.5900]}    {[  4.3400]}    {[  4.3400]}    {[  3.3700]}    {[  3.5700]}
    {[ 53.9500]}    {[ 48.6500]}    {[ 49.7800]}    {[50.7600]}    {[ 48.6500]}    {[ 48.6500]}    {[ 49.7800]}    {[ 50.7800]}
    {[ 57.6500]}    {[ 53.0000]}    {[ 53.1600]}    {[54.3500]}    {[ 52.9900]}    {[ 52.9900]}    {[ 53.1500]}    {[ 54.3500]}

N=cellfun(@(z)round(z,2), N, 'uni',0)   %rounded

N = 8×8 cell array
    {[     100]}    {[     100]}    {[     100]}    {[    100]}    {[     100]}    {[     100]}    {[     100]}    {[    100]}
    {[100.0100]}    {[100.0100]}    {[100.0100]}    {[99.9900]}    {[100.0100]}    {[100.0100]}    {[100.0100]}    {[99.9800]}
    {[ 42.3500]}    {[      47]}    {[ 46.8400]}    {[45.6500]}    {[ 47.0100]}    {[ 47.0100]}    {[ 46.8500]}    {[45.6500]}
    {[ 57.6500]}    {[      53]}    {[ 53.1600]}    {[54.3500]}    {[ 52.9900]}    {[ 52.9900]}    {[ 53.1500]}    {[54.3500]}
    {[     100]}    {[     100]}    {[     100]}    {[    100]}    {[     100]}    {[     100]}    {[     100]}    {[    100]}
    {[  3.7000]}    {[  4.3500]}    {[  3.3800]}    {[ 3.5900]}    {[  4.3400]}    {[  4.3400]}    {[  3.3700]}    {[ 3.5700]}
    {[ 53.9500]}    {[ 48.6500]}    {[ 49.7800]}    {[50.7600]}    {[ 48.6500]}    {[ 48.6500]}    {[ 49.7800]}    {[50.7800]}
    {[ 57.6500]}    {[      53]}    {[ 53.1600]}    {[54.3500]}    {[ 52.9900]}    {[ 52.9900]}    {[ 53.1500]}    {[54.3500]}